Welcome to the first edition of the Lawyers On The Move newsletter. I know it can be hard holding down your current law firm job and taking action to find and pursue an alternative career. Help has arrived! Get ready for a bi-monthly burst of ideas and inspiration to empower you to find the career of your dreams.

Here’s to finding work you love,

Monica R. Parker, J.D.
LeavingTheLaw.com  

P.S. Know any other lawyers who are struggling to find alternative careers?  Please forward Lawyers On The Move to them and encourage them to subscribe!

Appreciate Uncertainty
December 6, 2006

So you know you want to leave the practice of law. Perhaps you’ve found a few alternative careers that appeal to you and you’re exploring them. But you don’t have anything concrete—no clear idea of what you want to do or a plan for how to get there, if you did. 

Uncomfortable, isn’t it? For most of your working life, you’ve known what you wanted to do, become a lawyer. So you took the LSAT, applied to law school and earned your J.D., interviewed at law firms, and passed the bar exam. Now that you’ve discovered you want to take a different route and don’t have that same clarity, you’re frustrated.

It was almost unbearable for me. Even though I didn’t know what I wanted to do, there was this primal urge to do something, anything. And that urge often leads to a dangerous place. You’ve seen other lawyers go there. They get desperate and grab at a legal job posting a friend forwarded them. And then a few months or years later in that new position, they’re unhappy again and don’t know why. 

Resist the urge. The right thing to do is actually counterintuitive. Appreciate the uncertainty.

Welcome uncertainty because it’s actually a place of rich creativity and possibility. I think it’s akin to a birthing process. And that process is often a messy, painful, unpredictable, and beautiful thing. 

One week of sitting with uncertainty is going to feel like an eternity. And for some of you, it may take several weeks or months before you gain some clarity. What can you do while you’re there? 

• Keep track of what intrigues you—whether it’s a book, a TV show, a conversation, or a magazine article, take note of it and what about it caught your attention. You’d be surprised at where ideas of next careers come from.  Mine came from a book.
• Play—if you’ve fallen in love with your neighborhood yarn shop, see if the owner will let you spend a day there or do an internship. Instead of imagining what it’s like, see what it’s like. 
• Make new friends—no, not lawyers but people who are doing the things you want to do next. These people are your lifeline. If you don’t believe me, how far have you gotten hanging out with other unhappy lawyers?
• Daydream—envision yourself doing work that you love, surrounded by people you adore, and making a good living. Create a vivid picture; fill it with details of sights, sounds, smells, and tastes. Draw it or create a collage and indulge in looking at it every day.

I know that resisting the urge to bolt is a challenge. But I promise you that if you’re willing to do it, you will eventually emerge with a sense of direction, a sense of purpose. You may not be able to create the same cookie-cutter plan that exists for becoming a lawyer but you will have enough to help you take the first step. And what you learn from that first step will guide you to the next step and the next one and the next one…

What are you doing while you’re sitting with uncertainty? Share your strategies on Monica’s Blog.

Word on the Street

A friend who is a pastry chef-turned-lawyer (yes, some people actually want in to the profession) recently sent me an email about a book she loves: On Becoming Fearless…In Work, Love, and Life by Arianna Huffington, independent candidate for California governor against Arnold Schwarzenegger and author of biographies on Picasso and Maria Callas. Huffington says, “If my daughters, and women of all ages, are to take their rightful place in society, they must become fearless.” An insightful read.
Click here to check it out at Amazon.

Read a book that moved, inspired, motivated, and/or cheered you up recently?  Share it with the "LeavingTheLaw.com" crowd.  Send me an email at Monica@LeavingTheLaw.com.   

TELECLASS:
How To Find The Alternative Career That's Right For You
Begins February 12, 2007
How will you start the New Year? Complaining about your job or actively seeking the career of your dreams? If you’re ready to stop talking and start taking action, join us for this 7-week teleclass. It’s a step-by-step approach for career exploration, from how to discover engaging alternative careers to how to explore them without leaving your day job. Registration is limited, so click here to sign up today! 

E-BOOK:
Getting Hit By A Bus Isn’t The Answer:
A Road Map For Finding Meaningful Work Outside Of The Law  

Want to leave the law but struggling to find alternative careers that excite you? I’ve been in your shoes. After five years of struggling, I stumbled upon a process that helped me find my new career. Within 10 months, I left the law and now have work I love.  This guide takes you through the same process I used. It contains fun and insightful exercises and tools to help you identify and explore exciting alternative careers. Click here to grab a copy for only $19.95.

Recent postings: “See Monica Practice Law,” a serialized account of my own frustrating and often humorous experiences practicing law.  Click here to read Monica’s Blog and subscribe to receive blog updates.